"Blue City Of Rajasthan" Jodhpur

Rajasthan often known as "The Land of Rajputs" meaning "Son of the King" in Sanskrit (raja-putra).
Rajasthan was under Mauryan rule from around 400 AD, then came the "Scythians" often known as Kshatriyas as mentioned in Indian Epic books, "Ramayana" and "Mahabharat". These Rajputs were divided in three Major Dynasty

1. Suryavanshi - followers who worshiped Sun God (Surya).
2. Chandravansi - followers who worshiped Moon (Chandra).
3. Agnivanshi - followers who worshiped Fire (Agni).

The Rajputs aroused during 9th and 10th Centuries and became a major force in princely states of Rajasthan and Saurashtra in North India. This group of worriers dominated this region for thousands of years finally making Rajasthan as their Homeland, distributed in the major regions i.e. Marwar, Mewar and Sekhawati.

Rajasthan has always been a favourite Tourist Destination of foreigners for many years, in-fact many of them have left their own country and settled here. Jaipur, Udaipur, Ajmer, Pushkar, Bikaner, Jaisalmer are among the famous cities in Rajasthan.

Among them is the "Blue City of Rajasthan" or "Sun City" known as JODHPUR. It is the Second largest city in the state of Rajasthan. Rao Jodha Rathore the ruler of Mandore founded this city the year 1459, thus known as Jodhpur. The weather is very hot, bright and sunny all-round the year, so to keep the atmosphere of the house cool it is painted in blue colour. In major part of the old city, the houses are painted in blue colour so it is called "Blue City".

"Blue City Of Rajasthan" Jodhpur

"Stranger always add Mystery", this travel blog is about 2 known friends and a Stranger. Shahina and I were traveling friends who used to go for different Trekking and Camping activities together. Any one of us would get any notification about any such activity would inform the other and join for an Adventurous activity. We were planning a long distance Travel holiday, but somehow was not working due to busy schedules. Shahina had her friend "Shree" coming to see her and stay with her just for a change, so they thought why not utilize those days for some travel plan. So Shahina called me asking if I could adjust with my holidays and plan a trip?

I was having quiet a busy schedule since last few days, so I decided to have some time for myself and applied for leave. First I thought it was only 2 of us then she added that Shree from Bangalore will also be joining, she was a complete stranger to me as I was for her. Rajasthan was on our mind but where and how many days was a big question? We collectively put some thoughts and ideas coming to a conclusion of "Blue City" Jodhpur. Jaisalmer was also on plan as it was nearby and the Desert Safari was the activity which we all wanted to experience. So the plan was set, they insisted on Flight both ways which was costly and not in my budget. So we booked Train tickets in Tatkal and now finally we were having a holiday. Shahina Apurva and Shree three stars from different skies, were going to come together under one sky to brighten the Blue City.

This plan happened all of a sudden so only Train tickets to Jodhpur was confirmed, return tickets were also not available. I was the one who always travel by train as I Love it the most, the other 2 used to travel by either Flight or bus. This was their first experience travelling in train that also in Sleeper Class. The day arrived when the other 2 travellers reached my home, now I finally see "Shree" with whom I was going to travel. Shree was Golu-molu and very cute, she was introduced to my family and then we had some chitchat and took rest for about an hour or so then left for Borivali Station. Train no. 12480 SURYANAGRI EXPRESS was our train at 14:00 hrs. from Borivali reaching Jodhpur Junction next morning at 06:30 am.

Early morning in Jodhpur was very cold, we had planned for stay in Dharamshala which was just opposite Jodhpur railway station. Sheth Shree Parihar Dharamshala Trust, which has very clean and well managed rooms and pocket friendly also. We reached and gave our ID proof for admission, here the big problem arises, they started saying that they will not allow us to stay as Shahina is Muslim by Religion and started getting angry and shouting at us.

"Are we living in a Modern World" I would like to ask you all readers? I and Shree had no objection then why should they have. We all have one colour of blood in common, GOD has made no difference between us then why do we make differences?

Let's not argue on this, then we looked around for other options for stay but didn't find any nearby. So we booked online and got a best deal, "The Destination Home Stay" costing 750/- INR. Away from railway station but near to Mehrangarh Fort and Ghantaghar Market. It was a resident building converted for Homestay, it had a full view of the mighty "Mehrangarh Fort" from the terrace. It had a rooftop restaurant and even more amazing, it had a small terrace designed for 3 people to sleep. It was just perfect for 3 of us and we already planned sleeping on the terrace as long as we were staying at that hotel.

Mehrangarh Fort view from hotel.

We then had some tea and breakfast typical rajasthani snack of Mirchi vada and Kachori, it was very very tasty and very economical (4 mirchi vada + 3 kachori + 2 bhaji plate = 52/- INR.). Then we took auto towards station and from there we took Activa on rent 350/- INR per day from 8am - 8pm and refundable security deposit of 500/- INR.

Our first point was a mighty start, a Palace famous as World's Largest Private Residence “Umaid Bhawan Palace" built by Maharaja Umaid Singh in 1943. This palace has 347 rooms and is the principal residence of the Royal family, part of the palace is controlled by Taj Group of Hotels and the other part is a Museum open for public. The museum itself is very huge, bringing a thought "how mighty must be the entire Palace?" it took about 2-3 hrs. to completely see the museum.

Umaid Bhavan Palace, Jodhpur

Udaid Bhavan Museum, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

After the mighty Umaid Bhawan Palace we went to see our next point Balsamad Lake, we supposed it was a lake open for people but when we reached there, we found that it was a Private property. Balsamad Lake is now owned by some royal family which they have converted into Hotel, we managed entering the hotel by visiting the restaurant inside. It is a very huge place spread in 5-7 acres of land, it has beautiful individual villas, a horse stable near the entry, large water streams spread across the property, beautiful gardens and a beautiful restaurant. We had some refreshments in the restaurant then relaxed in a peaceful surrounding for a while and moved out. It’s my recommendation for those who like luxury stay this is one of the best you can get in Jodhpur.

Bal Samad Lake, Jodhpur

Now we moved on our active to our next destination, Rao Jodha Rock garden. It is a very beautiful and well maintained ecological garden, presenting different plants and flowers that grow especially in dry desert area of Rajasthan. Finishing with rock garden, we went to Jaswant Tada another beautiful place in Jodhpur and near to Mehrangarh Fort.

Jaswanta Tada was built by Maharaja Sardar Singhji in 1906 A.D. in memory of his father Maharaja Jaswant Singh II and is also famous as "TAJ MAHAL OF MARWAR". It is very calm and peaceful place and has a beautiful view of the city from top. We spent some time here and clicked few pictures and enjoyed the view of the city. Finished seeing Jaswant Tada we then went to Mehrangarh Fort, it was our last place for the day and we purposely did so as we could enjoy the sunset view from the fort.

Jaswant Tada "Taj Mahal of Marwar"

As we entered the Mehrangarh fort premises, we could see the Mighty structure of this fort located on a cliff 410 feet above the city, surrounded by thick walls which are 118 ft. high and 69 ft. wide, protecting the fort.

Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur

This mighty fort is spread over 5 kms. on the hill and has seven huge entry gates known as "Pol", which are -

1. JAI POL
2. FATEH POL
3. LOHA POL
4. DEDH KAMGRA POL
5. LAKHNA POL
6. AMRITI POL
7. SURAJ POL

Four of this "POL" has a significant history behind them i.e.

1. Fateh Pol: - "Fateh" in Urdu meaning "Victory", was built in 1707 to signify victory over Mughals.
2. Jai Pol:- "Jai" in Sanskrit meaning" Victory", was built by Maharaja Man Singh to celebrate victory of war against Jaipur and Bikaner in 1806 and named it as (Jai Pol - Victory Gate).
3. Loha Pol:- In the year 1843 several Queens of Maharaja Man Singh together performing "Johar"   ( meaning several women jumping together into fire to avoid capture, enslavement and rape from foreign invaders ). It has hand prints of Sati marks on the left side of the wall.
4. Dedh Kamgra Pol:- This wall still has traces of cannonballs fired by the Jaipur army.

This Splendid fort has brilliantly crafted hand artistic and decorated palaces inside such as Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors), Moti Mahal (Palace of Pearls), Phool Mahal (Palace of Flowers), Sileh Khana and Daulat Khana.

Huge stone walls and airy surrounding with bright sunlight makes the fort even more attractive, as we entered we saw a small layout of the entire fort made from metal. It has a grand entrance and huge doors to welcome you, we visited different palaces inside the fort and got amazed by the brilliant architecture. Sitting in this fort at any place makes you feel Royal and reminds of history and the life of Kings and Queens during their historical periods. After visiting the Museum and the Palaces inside the fort we went towards the top most area or near the boundary of the fort from where you could see the Blue City. We got ourselves seated along the boundary wall, enjoying the view of the city and Sunset in "Sun City of Rajasthan" Jodhpur. The view of the blue city and the setting sun were just perfectly calming and relaxing, ending our first memorable and historic day in Jodhpur.

We returned back to our hotel, got refreshed and went towards station to return the activa that we had rented for the day. We had a nice night walk in the city and took auto for our hotel, nearby there is a rooftop restaurant where we had some rajasthani food i.e. Dal Bati which was very tasty and then had biryani to finish. Walking at night through local streets we reached our hotel, then changed and quickly rushed to the terrace to catch the best spot for the night in the open sky just adjacent to the Mehrangarh fort. This was "The Amazing Night Experience" ever in our life, what else would you ask for? Dark night, bright moonlight, cold and loud breeze, sight of the fort on one side and palace on the other side, away from home on the terrace in Rajasthan. I don't have much words to express my feelings, but definitely the amazing experience ever. Next morning was also going to be an enthusiastic one as we were to visit "Migrating Birds Home Khichan".

Khichan, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

Early morning we woke up by 4 am, got fresh and left the hotel by 5 am towards Jodhpur bus depot to catch the first bus for Khichan. Khichan is a small village located in Phalodi tehsil of Jodhpur district, in the state of Rajasthan. It is located just 3.6 km away from Phalodi which is 113.9 km away from Jodhpur. RSRTC bus ticket cost 145 INR. Per adult, bus was late as usual, so we left from Jodhpur around 05:45 am and reached Phalodi around 08:50 am. It was very cold and windy when we got down at Phalodi bus depot, from there we took auto to Khichan which cost 100 INR.

Dry desert land as far as your eyes can reach and noisy surrounding of over 20-30 K. of Demoiselle cranes which come to visit India that also only in Khichan every year from Eurasia during September to February. (Read detailed story from this link - https://apurvad37.blogspot.com/2020/05/migrating-birds-home-khichan.html)

It is just an amazing experience ever to have a site of so many birds together in one place. This place is very very noisy, the birds rest and quench their thirst in small water bodies around. You can spend hours sitting at this place and enjoy the view of the gathering of this beautiful birds. It was not easy for me to leave such a wonderful feeling and go back to Jodhpur but had to leave, taking an auto we reached Phalodi bus depot. It was lunch time and we hungry too, so we had aloo paratha, gobi paratha, mix veg. paratha loaded with desi ghee, special bhaji, dal fry and jeera rice in a local dhaba near bus depot. The lunch was very tasty and very heavy due to desi ghee, now all of us were feeling a bit dizzy but had to catch our bus back to Jodhpur. After waiting for half hour, finally the bus arrived. We got proper seats and had a good sleep until we reached Jodhpur around 03:45pm. Then we reached our hotel and relaxed for some time, today was our last day in Jodhpur. So we decided to visit the local market and do some shopping, also visit some local places around.

Ghanta Garh Market, Jodhpur

Ghanta ghar is a local market in Jodhpur, it is famous for rajasthani handicraft items, jodhpuri rajhai, and chaddars etc. It was just 10 min. walk from our hotel so we walked through the local streets and reached the market. Here we did some shopping of chaddars and Bandhej duppata etc. then we had tasty pani-puri at a famous stall in the market. From ghanta ghar we then went to “Toorji Ka Jhalra” a small step well in the city to preserve water for use in summer.

Toorji Ka Jhalra, Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Just opposite is an old building converted into Luxury hotel and roof top restaurant known as “Step well Hotel”, we visited some shops and the rooftop restaurant. Unfortunately we could not dine there as it served only Continental food and is quit famous among foreigners. We had some good time sitting at this step-well as it was cold and calm around, this structure made from pink stones is an Architectural marvel.

Open House Cafe, Toorji Ka Jhalra, Jodhpur.

Then we visited a small rooftop restaurant “Open House Cafe” and had our special rajasthani dinner of Dal bati, gutta curry, soft tawa chapatti, dal fry jeera rice and curd. It is a very nice place to be… it has open roof restaurant on the first floor and one small dining room with comfortable low sitting and a dining table in the centre. This was our second night dining at this beautiful restaurant in the same room, felt like it was just reserved for us. After dinner we spent some time sitting in the room and calling back our home sharing our days schedule and experience as usual. Finally we reached our hotel for a good night sleep on the terrace and have our last memorable night in Jodhpur.

Jawai Leopard Hills, Bera

Next morning we again woke up early to catch our first bus to Jawai approx. 150 Kms. from Jodhpur about 3 hrs. drive. Jawai is famous for its granite hills located in Sumerpur a small town in Pali district of Rajasthan. Maharaja Umaid Singh of Jodhpur built a Dam on Jawai River in 1957 making it the biggest Dam of western Rajasthan afterwards known as Jawai Bandh. The Major Attraction for tourist in Jawai is “LEOPARD”, the granite hills all over jawai is a home for the Leopards. This is the only place in India or maybe in the world that allows you to have a sight of this beautiful Leopard roaming free in (group) numbers of max. 9-11nos. Leopards are very rear to see as they do not hunt in groups like the Lions, they hut and live alone their entire life.

images courtesy- walkthroughindia.com

Among many of this granite hills, on one of the hill there is a Devgiri Cave Temple dedicated to Ashapura Mataji. This temple is visited often by the Leopards and can be seen here much often relaxing on the steps and playing among this rocks.

We reached Jawai bandh around 08:30 am, had some local snacks and started enquiring about how to reach the Leopard Hills. Jawai is a very small village so there is not much development around, the people here are very simple and down to earth, many of them don’t even know about such leopard hills. We were unaware about this place and this was our first time visit too, now the problem was who can help and how to reach and see the Leopard. The owner of the snacks corner said, he knew a person who drives Auto and maybe he can help. So he called him for us, after 20mins he arrived then the owner and the auto driver had some communication in their local language. The auto driver approached us and asked, exactly where we wanted to go and see? Then we explained him the entire situation and what exactly we were looking for. He also was not aware of this place but had heard about it, he then enquire in his circle of friends and finally got the exact location. He said it’s Devgiri Hills in Sumerpur and presently we were in Jawai, it will take about 40mins to reach there.

Finally we got auto our mode of transportation to the Leopard hills. It’s in a very remote area and not much transportation available as there is no population around this area. Now it was only 3 of us going to an unknown expedition to find the Leopard with no one to guide us. We started walking towards the hill through dense plantation around finally reaching the steps towards the hills. There was absolute silence in the air and slightest of noise can be heard, we slowly and steadily climbed and were very alert. Every now and then we used to stop and watch around, weather we could spot any Leopard movement or could hear any sound. The excitement was full-on and the road was unknown passing through the large granite stones leading to the temple. On the way there was not even a single person climbing up or coming down from the top, when we reached the temple again there was not a single person and not even the temple poojari. We set in the Temple premises for some time and then visited the temple to worship the goddess and pray that we could see the Leopard. The road was only till the temple but the hill was much bigger there, so we decided to explore through narrow unknown roads behind the temple. Climbing the hill for a while, we reached a manmade water hole probably for the leopards to drink water during hot summer season. It was quite a while now since we were climbing and finding different trails that could reach us to sight a Leopard, but couldn’t find any. Returning back towards the temple we sat for a while silently near the water hole assuming he would come now to quench his thirst. But unfortunately it didn’t happen, making us a bit sad as this was the only day reserved for the Leopard safari and then we were to move to our next destination. Then we came down the hill and called our auto driver, all our luggage was in his auto and we were very thirsty. When he arrived, we had some water and started moving back from where he had picked us. Returning back he also showed us Jawai Bandh Dam and shared many stories of Sumerpur and his village. It was afternoon when we came back so we had lunch in a restaurant famous for its Rajasthani Thali which was very tasty and offered unlimited food. Then we took auto to reach Bus Depot, for next bus to Mount Abu our last destination.

A small incident happened during this time which I would like to share with you all. “We waited for 25mins for the bus in the depot, had some fruits and were looking different stay options for Mount Abu. The bus arrived, we got comfortable seats and the bus moved on and suddenly Shree asked me where your Jacket is? At that movement I realised that I forgot my jacket in the restaurant. It was too late to go back, it was 20mins since we left the depot and was not sure whether we could find the jacket back! As we were talking among ourselves the driver heard our conversation and asked what happened. We explained him the situation, he said do you have the no. of the auto driver? I said we have so he said call him and make me speak with him. So I called the auto driver and handed over the call to the driver, he then had a chat with him in local language and gave me the call. I asked him what next? He said the driver will go to the restaurant and see for the jacket. If found he will bring back to our next stop which was just 5min away. The 3 of us were praying that the driver finds the jacket, we reached the next stop and the bus halted. After 15mins when the bus was about to move forward, the auto driver arrived and brought back my Jacket. We were so pleased to see him and then we thanked him for his kind deed, then he just went away. Everyone in the bus also knew about my lost jacket, so all were happy that I finally got it back.”

We were very thankful to the driver of the bus and the auto driver for helping in a situation where we had lost all hopes. Further the driver also helped in booking for Mount Abu, he called his friend from his mobile and asked her if any room was available. When we reached Mount Abu a car came to pick us and drop at Residential apartment which the lady had reserved for us. It was a nice 1BHK on first floor, just 5min walking distance from main market. We had reached Mount Abu by 8pm, so we just got fresh and were out for dinner. It was cold outside and not much to offer at that time so we had whatever we could get and came back to our room. Today was our lucky day that was the main point of discussion before going to sleep.

Next morning we started by 07:30am, first we had garma-garam aloo paratha and tea for breakfast. We were late for the sight-seeing bus which leaves by 8am, so we hired Activa for the day @150/- and 500/- refundable deposit, timing from 8am-8pm. Traveling in bus is more convenient an cheap added benefit is you find new people and get new travel ideas.

Dilwara Jain Temple, Mount Abu Rajasthan

Our first point was “Dilwara Jain Temple”, one of the famous temple of Rajasthan, started construction from 1031 till 1582. During this time five temples were constructed in the premises which are

• Vimal Vasahi
• Luna Vasahi
• Pittalhar
• Parshvanath Swami
• Mahavir Swami

All this temples are made of white marble stone and has very beautiful carvings on the doorway, pillars, panels and ceilings that reflects Jain Architecture. The entire shrine has a very calm, peaceful and divine surrounding that enlightens you heart and soul. It’s a must visit place in Mount Abu. 

Tod Rock, Mount Abu 

After Dilwara Jain Temple we went to “Tod Rock”, it is a large rock appear to be like a Toad. Climbing on top of the rock you have a panoramic view of Nakki Lake.

From Tod Rock we went to “Guru Shikhar” the highest peak in Rajasthan at an altitude of 5676ft (1722mts.) and one of the best point in Mount Abu. On the top of the peak is a Temple of Dattatreya, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and therefore this peak is called Guru Shikhar. From the top of Guru Shikhar you can see a beautiful panoramic view of Mount Abu, it is a must visit point. Mount Abu is a very beautiful hill station in rajasthan and very near to Gujarat, is has been a tourist destination and a honeymoon spot for decades among the gujaratis and the rajasthani community.

Next was “Honeymoon Point”, it is beautiful spot to sit and relax the natural beauty and the atmosphere of this hill station. We spent some time with nature and moved to our next interesting point “Om Shanti Bhavan”.

Bhrama Kumaris, Mount Abu, Rajasthan.

“Brahma Kumaris Ashram” is also known as Om Shanti Bhavan, was founded by “Lekhraj Kripalani” in the year 1936. The base of teaching at Brahma Kumari is “Soul- consciousness”, which is above all race of gender, nationality and religion. They believe that God is the source of all goodness and to achieve that we need to meditate, to identify our soul as opposed to our body. This ashram is a museum that displays the knowledge of Lord Shiva about “Soul” and how to attain through meditation. It is a spread over 50-acres of land that allows you to connect with natural surrounding and have a peace of mind away from concrete jungle.

Nakki Lake, Mount Abu, Rajasthan

“Nakki Lake” our last point for the day in Mount Abu, also known as Nakki Jheel. This lake is a paradise for nature lovers and is a Gem of Mount Abu, it is the first manmade lake in India. Located in the centre of the mountain, this lake is 11,000 meters deep and has a width of around 400 meters. This fresh water lake is surrounded by lush greenery and tall mountains making it a perfect spot of attraction for the tourists. We spent some time sitting on the sides and then we did paddle boating, there were many ducks in the lake so we spent most of our time in chasing them. Suddenly we remembered that we had to reach sunset point before it sets down, so we drove our active quickly to enjoy the beautiful sunset.

Sun Set Point, Mount Abu, Rajasthan

“Sunset Point” is one of the most beautiful spots, sitting on the rocks and enjoying the setting sun is a worthwhile experience. Sitting on the rock and seeing the bright sunlight getting deem and then turning dark was an experience which we miss out in our daily life. After sunset it was time for some shopping in the local markets, best way to start was by eating cheesy sweetcorn sprinkled with hot red chili powder. Yummy delight made a start for some shopping activity which Shree and Shahina carried out till 8pm, now was the time to return our active. After returning our active, again shopping of some beautiful earrings, necklace and some bandhej skirt was what they purchased. Then we went to our flat to keep all the items purchased, got freshened up and again came back to the market. This time not for shopping but dinner, we had one pav bhaji, chole kulcha and then dal khichdi, all items ordered were very tasty and we enjoyed too. Then we went to have chocolate mousse which is very famous in the market at Mount Abu. This was indeed a day to remember, driving around the zig-zag road and beautiful streets of the mountains. Then we returned back to the flat and started packing our bags as next morning we had to leave for Mumbai and most important we had to book our train tickets in Tatkal quota.

Zorbimg, Nakki Lake, Mount Abu

Next morning we got up by 08:30am and freshened up, at 10am we started booking our Train ticket in tatkal quota but even before we could fill our form the tickets got sold out. Now we were left with only one option of traveling by bus, so we went in the market to book our tickets. We got our confirm tickets and the bus was leaving at 4pm, now we got a bonus day which was to be utilized at its best. So the first thing we did was we rushed towards Nakki Lake before it gets hot, then we did Zorbing the activity we missed out the previous day as it turned dark and was closed. It was a thrilling as well as tiring experience, with two heavy weight champions doing nothing but just laughing and enjoying the ride. I was the one who was pushing hard and very hard to roll the ball but could not move much, until Shree would push and then the ball would roll. I was sweating all ends and Shahina was busy shooting our video and laughing on. Finally the operator whistled to stop and I got sigh of relief, we had laughed a lot throughout the Zorbing activity. I felt as if I had my entire days exercise completed in 20mins. It is a must activity at Mount Abu, so all those who are planning their next trip should include Zorbing activity in their list. After that we relaxed for a while and again explored the market then we had our lunch and moved to our flat. We relaxed till 3pm then moved to catch our bus to Mumbai and end our journey.

It was a Beautiful experience from the Mighty and Marvellous Palaces and Forts to dry desert covered with thousands of birds to the granite hills in search of Leopard and finally to the mountain of Rajasthan.

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